andrewmcleod
Well-known member
Time for a slightly late trip report...
While all the other summer expeds have had lots of dry weather, the defining feature of our expedition so far has been rain. So on the 27th August we again found ourselves with a dubious forecast which ruled out a WUG trip. So instead we headed for the 'bombproof' option of PL2.
Dachstein fans will know this is a cave first explored by very hard Polish explorers a long time ago, ending about 600m down in an enormous chamber. The chamber has not been visited since, although the upper parts were rigged about a decade ago.
This trip was only to a large chamber at about -250m; a relatively pleasant tourist trip before the real miserable stuff commences. Dachstein veteran Axel was leading the trip but hadn't been down the cave since 2012.
At some point, getting back to the bottom of PL2 is an exped objective, particularly as well now know PL2 Passage in WUG Pot (with its strong draught) is within 20m or so of the PL2 chamber... But that's a task for another year when we have more exped members and better weather.
For now, we headed up the mountain and down the entrance. The cave was draughting in, so you didn't get the instant chill you get going into a lot of Dachstein caves. After a few little wiggles through blocks (on rope), the open pitches begin and you go down, down, down.
Most of PL2 to -250m is fairly easy going (for an Alpine cave). You do hit a meander before too long, climbing up a pitch into it and wiggling along at various levels, but nothing is too horrific (that apparently comes later...). There are of course plenty of places where you have to be careful to avoid rope rub and loose rock - it's still a grown-up cave - but it was a fun trip
As we were passing through the meander, Axel spotted the Pixa 3 he had lost off his helmet on his last trip in 2012. Amazingly, it still worked! (although the 'low battery' light did come on straight away).
Eventually you reach the final pitches into the massive chamber at -250m (but still much smaller than the promised chamber at about -600m). Just before the approximately 40m of pitches into this chamber, I spotted a knife situated precariously on a ledge... Not having anywhere to stash it, I then abseiled down the pitch (including passing a rebelay) with a knife in my teeth like some kind of pirate... Axel reckoned that the knife was probably from the Polish explorers (we left it in the cave).
This was our turn-around point, so we stopped for some snacks and Axel set up a few photos.
The way back was fairly uneventful - at first. After passing back through the meander you drop down, cross the floor of the chamber and prussik up the other side. On the way in, there was a small flow of water into the meander, but now exped newbie Chris could see that the flow was increasing rapidly.
Following instructions from Axel, we donned our gimp macs (cheap waterproofs) and Axel assessed the situation. Unbeknownst to us, a moderate amount of rain was falling outside, and various waterfalls were appearing in the cave. However, it was mostly still just dribbly pitches rather than strong flows, so we began cautiously prussiking up and out.
This was the first time I had used my gimp mac in real anger, and I could tell it made a massive difference. None of the pitches were super wet, but with the water at 2 or 3 degrees Celsius you didn't really want to get soaked. The wettest pitch was probably the one near to the entrance where you have to wriggle up through boulders at the top of the pitch, but by the time I got to it (at the back) the water levels already seemed to be diminishing.
Eventually we all emerged into the evening mist, somewhat damp, but with the rain stopped. We headed back down to the WUG tarp to drop off gear and then plodded back to Camelot (our hut) for food
Hopefully next year we will have enough people to push PL2 back down to the bottom and look for leads back into WUG, which would add about 60m to the height of the Hirlatz and push it further up the rankings of deepest caves
While all the other summer expeds have had lots of dry weather, the defining feature of our expedition so far has been rain. So on the 27th August we again found ourselves with a dubious forecast which ruled out a WUG trip. So instead we headed for the 'bombproof' option of PL2.
Dachstein fans will know this is a cave first explored by very hard Polish explorers a long time ago, ending about 600m down in an enormous chamber. The chamber has not been visited since, although the upper parts were rigged about a decade ago.
This trip was only to a large chamber at about -250m; a relatively pleasant tourist trip before the real miserable stuff commences. Dachstein veteran Axel was leading the trip but hadn't been down the cave since 2012.
At some point, getting back to the bottom of PL2 is an exped objective, particularly as well now know PL2 Passage in WUG Pot (with its strong draught) is within 20m or so of the PL2 chamber... But that's a task for another year when we have more exped members and better weather.
For now, we headed up the mountain and down the entrance. The cave was draughting in, so you didn't get the instant chill you get going into a lot of Dachstein caves. After a few little wiggles through blocks (on rope), the open pitches begin and you go down, down, down.
Most of PL2 to -250m is fairly easy going (for an Alpine cave). You do hit a meander before too long, climbing up a pitch into it and wiggling along at various levels, but nothing is too horrific (that apparently comes later...). There are of course plenty of places where you have to be careful to avoid rope rub and loose rock - it's still a grown-up cave - but it was a fun trip
As we were passing through the meander, Axel spotted the Pixa 3 he had lost off his helmet on his last trip in 2012. Amazingly, it still worked! (although the 'low battery' light did come on straight away).
Eventually you reach the final pitches into the massive chamber at -250m (but still much smaller than the promised chamber at about -600m). Just before the approximately 40m of pitches into this chamber, I spotted a knife situated precariously on a ledge... Not having anywhere to stash it, I then abseiled down the pitch (including passing a rebelay) with a knife in my teeth like some kind of pirate... Axel reckoned that the knife was probably from the Polish explorers (we left it in the cave).
This was our turn-around point, so we stopped for some snacks and Axel set up a few photos.
The way back was fairly uneventful - at first. After passing back through the meander you drop down, cross the floor of the chamber and prussik up the other side. On the way in, there was a small flow of water into the meander, but now exped newbie Chris could see that the flow was increasing rapidly.
Following instructions from Axel, we donned our gimp macs (cheap waterproofs) and Axel assessed the situation. Unbeknownst to us, a moderate amount of rain was falling outside, and various waterfalls were appearing in the cave. However, it was mostly still just dribbly pitches rather than strong flows, so we began cautiously prussiking up and out.
This was the first time I had used my gimp mac in real anger, and I could tell it made a massive difference. None of the pitches were super wet, but with the water at 2 or 3 degrees Celsius you didn't really want to get soaked. The wettest pitch was probably the one near to the entrance where you have to wriggle up through boulders at the top of the pitch, but by the time I got to it (at the back) the water levels already seemed to be diminishing.
Eventually we all emerged into the evening mist, somewhat damp, but with the rain stopped. We headed back down to the WUG tarp to drop off gear and then plodded back to Camelot (our hut) for food
Hopefully next year we will have enough people to push PL2 back down to the bottom and look for leads back into WUG, which would add about 60m to the height of the Hirlatz and push it further up the rankings of deepest caves
